A FURTHER case of Legionnaires' disease linked to the Renfrew area has been confirmed, bringing the total to 11.

The latest patient is being treated in hospital and "is stable", NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde said.

All the people previously reported to have been infected have recovered.

The new case was announced by health chiefs following a meeting of the board's outbreak control team.

All 11 cases have a direct or indirect link to the Renfrew area and investigations into the source of the infection have been focused on the town.

Legionnaires' disease is an uncommon but serious form of pneumonia, caused by bacteria distributed widely in natural and artificial water supplies. Symptoms are headache, fever, dry cough, breathing difficulties, stomach pains and diarrhoea.

The Legionella bacteria is spread through aerosols produced from water such as cooling towers, air conditioning units and showers.

Legionella bacteria

As a precaution, all active water cooling towers in Renfrew have been treated with chemicals that kill Legionella and several towers have been sampled for the disease.

The bacteria cannot be spread from person to person or contracted by drinking contaminated water.

People in and around the Renfrew area have been advised that they can drink water and prepare food in the normal way.

Dr Syed Ahmed, a consultant in public health medicine, said: "We have notified all community GPs and our frontline hospital teams to keep this outbreak uppermost in their minds when dealing with patients displaying symptoms of headache, fever, dry cough, breathing difficulties, stomach pains and diarrhoea.

"Anyone currently displaying these symptoms should contact NHS 24 on 08454 242 424 or their own GP."